ROLLING OUT — Cowboy junior Shane Larson rolls out looking down field for a receiver during a practice session on Monday evening. I-O Photo by Buck Traxler

Hope springs eternal with a new season and new coach.

The Cowboys, after a disaster of a season last year, are ready to surprise a lot of the “in the know” prognosticators who are picking the team to finish in fifth place out of the five District 1B teams.

Mick Morris is the new head coach and he comes from Nampa, Idaho but is originally from Butte.

Guiding the team at the helm will be returning junior QB Shane Larson (6-1,180) and senior tailback Brandon French (5-10, 190) who will pick up the slack of Devin VandenBos who graduated this year.

Senior Tyler Padilla (6-1,175) is a speedy receiver who will see a lot of Larson’s throws coming his way. Padilla will also see a lot of time on the other side of the ball playing free-safety.

The District 1B is made up of the following teams who are picked to finish in this order 1. Fairfield, 2. Cut Bank, 3. Choteau, 4. Shelby, 5. Conrad.

There are 26 players out this year led by seniors Logan Gouchenour, Morgan Koenig, Padilla and French.

Juniors on the team include Larson, Blake Underdahl, Tristian Diedrich, Josh Breding, Daryl Engelby, Tyler Richter, Will Early and James Richards.